Sinkane Harnesses Hope For Sudan In 'Dépaysé' Album

When Sinkane wrote the song "Ya Sudan" the Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir was still in power. He had ruled Sudan since a coup in 1989. That coup was a key moment in the life of Sinkane's lead singer and songwriter, Ahmed Gallab. As Gallab explained to NPR's Audie Cornish five years ago, because his father had been affiliated with the pre-al Bashir government, his family had had to quickly apply for asylum and immigrate from Sudan to the United States. "At that point," he said to Cornish, "My family had to start all over."

Last month, another coup ousted al-Bashir and while Sinkane's latest album, Dépaysé, was written while al-Bashir was still in power, its messages — and the way that Sinkane delivers them — resonate with the recent changes in Sudan and the U.S. political climate alike.

Gallab spoke with NPR's Ari Shapiro about Dépaysé, Sudan's regime change and the resilience of its people, and embracing his Sudanese identity in the United States. Listen to the full aired version of their conversation at the audio link.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Shapiro: So, tell me about this song "Ya Sudan." What did it mean to you when you first wrote it, with Omar al-Bashir still in power, and what does it mean to you now that the man who ruled the country for most of your life is gone?

Gallab: On the previous Sinkane records, I've always wanted to write this song. And I just didn't really know how to dig into myself. I think after the Muslim ban happened and Trump was elected, I started to think about: "Who am I? And what is my true identity?"

Of course, Sudan was one of the countries in that travel ban.

Yes, and being Sudanese is a part of my true identity. I started to become addicted with understanding this. As things kind of went along, and Omar al-Bashir, his regime started to fall, I found myself being very inspired. We went to Sudan to perform, and I met a bunch of young kids, and I realized how much energy was going on in the country. It really sparked a lot of inspiration for me to reconnect with my identity, my Sudanese identity.

How long after that performance in Sudan did last month's coup happen?

It was about a year and a half later.

Wow. And so now, when you hear this song, how does it sound to you? What do you think about?

It makes me very proud. I feel like everyone in Sudan, and everyone outside of Sudan who is Sudanese, we've all dealt with this terrible dictator for so long. And we rallied, we showed our resilience. It was a coup that overthrew the government, but really, it was the Sudanese people who just said enough was enough.

The title of the album is Dépaysé. What does the word "dépaysé" mean?

Dépaysé is a French word that means "removed from one's habitual surroundings." It could also mean to be disoriented or a little confused, but it doesn't have a negative connotation.

You wrote lyrics in two languages for the title track.

Yeah, Arabic is my first language, then English.

Why did you decide to do both in this song, when most of the rest of the album is just in English?

Since I started Sinkane, I've always wanted it to be a bilingual project. Even still, like when I make my demos, the lyrics are predominantly in Arabic. It's easier for me to emote that way. But I think, universally, it's a lot easier for people to come in if they're hearing English lyrics.

So is ["Dépaysé"] a moment of you moving away from professional industry expectations and more towards what feels to you like some kind of authentic artistic expression?

I feel like, because of what's been going on in the world, artists like me are much more confident about expressing their duality.

What do you mean when you say "given what's going on in the world"?

Given the Muslim ban, given things like Brexit, the white supremacy uprising that's happening right now. I don't want to speak for everyone, but I can definitely speak for myself. I was very influenced to sing more in Arabic and to express my Sudanese identity much more confrontationally and much more honestly.

I could imagine some people reacting to the Islamophobia and hostility towards Muslims by retreating. Can you tell us about your decision to not be afraid of wearing and presenting multiple identities, and being proud about your background and the many influences that make you who you are?

Well, I've always been — and I think a lot of people who are like me have always been — a little bit insecure. I think, growing up, I always wanted to be like everyone else. I always wanted to go sleep over at my American friends' houses because I could wake up and smell bacon at their house. That was so different from my experience at home. And I was like, "Oh, I just wanna be like them."

But as I grew up and learned about myself more, and connected with other people like me, I realized how beautiful my experience is, as well. And in respecting that, in being myself unapologetically, my friends accepted me as much as they accept everyone else. Or, the world accepted me as much as they accept everyone else. And I did become a part of the community that I wanted to be.

I think a lot of Sudanese people are feeling a real sense of hope and optimism right now. And your album provides a good soundtrack to that. ... I can almost picture you singing [the album's opening song, "Everybody,"] at a rally in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

Yeah, that would be a dream of mine, actually.

Does this song feel like an anthem for the moment to you?

Yeah, I think so. I think that, with this song in particular, I wanted to be very real, but I wanted to also express that we can get through all of the stuff that's going on right now. We're all feeling a bit down, and we all have a lot trying to hold us down. And it's always been that way. We've had the Civil Rights movement, we've had slavery, we've had so many different things that have tried to hold us down, but our hope — our understanding that this is what it is, but we can get through this — has been a very powerful piece of energy to get us through everything. And I think, now more than ever, I think it's really important for people to understand that.

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